Combined music rack and turner.



No. 799,959. vPATENTND SEPT. 19, 1905.

I H. L. ABRAHAM. COMBINED MUSIC RACK AND TURNER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3l. 1905.

UNITED srnalns PATENT OFFIOE.

COMBINED MUSIC RACK AND TURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application filed May 3l, 1905. Serial No. 262.995

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN L. ABRAHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marengo` in the county of McHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Music Rack and rI`urner, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide means for rigidly holding in place a sheet or book of music suitably mounted upon a rack, and further provide means for successively turning the pages of a book or sheet of 'music without the necessity for using the hands or interrupting the progress ofthe musical rendition.

Another object of the invention is to provide suitable means for reversely turning a page or pages of a composition in order to provide for the repetition of any desired page.

A further object of the invention is to simplify the construction and operation of the releasing mechanism so that it shall be easy and certain of operation, and a further object is to provide footlevers mounted upon a tripod or similar supporting device for turning and reversing the pages of music by the action of the foot leaving the hands of the player free at all times.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the entire device mounted upon a tripod; Fig. 2, an enlarged detail of the reversing-arm, and Fig. 3 an enlarged detail of the releasing mechanism.

The' music-rack consists of a central rod or upright 1, having secured thereto a laterallyprojecting fixed ledge or shelf 2, which coperates with a similar' ledge or shelf 3, pivoted to the shelf 2 by means of a pin or pivot 4 for allowing the rack to be folded upon itself. Each of the supporting ledges or shelves is provided with side rails 5 and top rails 6 and 7, preferably formed of wire, and the top rail 7is provided at its inner end with a loop 8, encircling the supporting-rod 1, which enables the top and side rails to be moved simultaneously with the supporting-ledge 3 in folding up the music-rack. Thesupporting-rod has mounted thereon an elongated spring-clamp 9, adapted to rigidly hold a sheet or book of music on of upwardly-extending clamps 10 are Secured to the sections of the supporting-ledge for securing the sheet or book of music at its bottom edge, and the clamps 10 can also be used for rigidly holding in place such pages of a book or sheet as are not intended to be played.

Below the ledge are a series of turning-arms 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, each of which with the exception of the last consists of a laterallyextending section 16, terminating in a depending section 17, and the dependingsection has outwardly extending therefrom a laterally-extending portion 18, which terminates in an upwardly-extending engaging end 19. The arm 15, which is the lowermost arm, differs from those hitherto described in that it extends directly outward and is not provided with the depending section hitherto described. Each of the arms is provided at its attaching end with a collar 20, which encircles the supporting-upright, and the collars, as shown, being arranged one above the other it is necessary to proportion each of the arms so that the outwardly-extending sections -18 will be in substantially the same horizontal plane with one another and with lowermost arm l5, so that when the arms are all thrown over to one side a portion of each of the arms will lie in the same plane. Each of the arms is provided on its terminal end with a clasp 21, adapted to grasp a single page of a sheet or book of music, so that the movement of each arm will turn the desired page of music, and the turning of the arms is effected by means of coil-springs 22, which surround the central upright intermediate of the pivotal collars for the arms.

Below the arms is a laterally -extending rigid rod 23, which terminates in a depending end 24, and upon the rod is mounted a guide-bracket 25, having open jaws 26 adapted to embrace and position the arms as they are swung to the right side of the music-rack preparatory to the turning of the pages of music, and the arms can all be easily positioned within the open jaws of the guide, since the guide is properly located to receive the alined sections of the arms. Outside of the guide is pivoted a releasing-lever 27, which consists of an inner section 28 and an outer section 29, forming a shoulder or abutment 30 at the juncture of the two sections, and the section 29 has on its terminal end a lingerplate 31, which is adapted to depress the releasing-lever and bring the shoulder 30 below the level of the jaws of the guide for the pur- ICO IIO

pose of successively releasing the arms. The releasing-lever has rigidly secured thereto a forwardly-projecting elevated arm 32, which terminates in a stop-linger 33, adapted to be swung back under tension for the purpose of allowing` the arms to be retracted, and the stop-finger terminates at a point below the level of the shoulder or abutment and rearwardly thereof a sufcient space to allow a single one of the arms to abut against the shoulder of the releasing-lever in front of the stop-finger, so that when the releasing-lever is depressed the outermost one of the arms will be released and the remaining arms held by the stop-finger. held in raised or normal position by means of a coil-spring 34, which surrounds the rigid arm 23 between the guide-arm 25 and thereleasing-lever. On the opposite side of the central upright is a reversing-arm 35, rigidly held against backward movement, but adapted to be swung over against the tension of a spring 36 to carry back with it the turningarms which have been previously actuated. The reversing-arm terminates in forwardlyprojecting guide-jaws 37, which are in hori- Zontal alinement with the guide-jaws 26 on the opposite side of the rack, and the guidejaws 37 are adapted to receive the turningarms as they are swung over from one side of the rack to the other. The reversing-arm is provided with a finger button or plate 38 for actuating the reversing-arm by hand, if so desired; but the reversing-arm may be actuated by means of a chain 39, which passes around a horizontal roller 40 and a vertical roller 41, both mounted on the rigid arm or rod 23, and the chain connects with an operating wire or cable 42, provided in its upper end with a hook 43, adapted to engage in one of the links in the chain for regulating the operative length of the chain. As shown, the supporting-upright l is mounted in a tripod 44, and the vertical elevation of the rack may be regulated by means of a thumb-screw 45. The tripod is provided with three legs 46, pivoted at their upper ends to a bracket 47 and held in projected position by means of braces 49. From the lower end of the tripodupright depends a doubly-slotted guideway 50,within which operate foot-levers 5l and 52, the former of which is pivoted to a bracket 53 on one of the tripod-legs and the latter of which is pivoted to the former. The footlevers are held normallyin raised position by means of springs 54 and 55, the former of which is secured to one of the distending'- braces 49 and the latter of which is secured to the foot-lever 5l,which for convenience we may call the reversing foot-lever, as distinguished from the actuating foot-lever 52. The wire cable 42 connects with the reversing foot-lever,which has a longer swing ormovement, and the actuating foot-lever is connectrlhe releasinglever isl ed with the releasing-lever 29 by means of a wire or cable 56 and chain 57, secured together by means of a hook 58, which enables the operative length of the chain to be easilyl regulated.

In use the device can be mounted ona tripod of the character indicated or upon the musicrest of a piano, in which latter case the depending end 24 of the arm 23 can be inserted into a suitable socket to prevent any side movement or turning of the rack. The sheet or book of music is secured to the rack by clamping the back of the sheet or book to the central upright and clamping the lower edges of the sheet or book to the supporting ledges or rests, after which the individual pages of the musical composition are clamped to the separate turning-arms, which are all thrown back into position to be successively released by the movements of the releasing-lever. As soon las the first page is played the releasing'- lever can be actuated either by the hand or the foot, as the case may be, which draws down the shoulder or abutment suiiicientlyto allow the release of the outermost turning-arm, which swings over under tension of the spring and turns the page preparatory to the further rendition of the musical composition. The movement of the releasing-lever serves to depress the stop-linger simultaneo usly with the depression of the shoulder or abutment, so that but a single turning-arm can be released at one time. As the arms are released they will swing over and be engaged by the open jaws of the reversing-arm, so that one or more of the arms can be swung back and be again engaged by the abutment of the releasing-lever, allowing the same page or pages to be repeated as often as it is desired. This is an important feature of the present invention in that it enables musical compositions of any kind or character to be rendered without difficulty, since the operator can skip back and forth and expose to view any desired portion of the composition. lVhen mounted on a tripod of the character-above described, the entire operation of turning and reversing the pages can be performed by movements of the foot, which is a great advantage in the rendition of instrumental music, such as violinmusic, in it that it enables the player to perform the entire composition without interruption or annoyance and at the same time insures a proper turning of but a single page of music at a time, since the pages are all clamped in place and cannot be disarranged by drafts or by the operation of turning the pages. By employing sections of chain for the purpose of actuating the releasing and reversing mechanism it is possible to adjust the rack to any desired height on the tripod and at the same time regulate the operative length of the chains controlling the turning mechanism.

IOS

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a device of the class described, the combination of a series of turning-arms pivotally mounted, springs for actuating the turning-arms, each of the arms having a portion of its length in the same horizontal plane with the remaining arms, a releasing mechanism adapted to hold and successively release the turning-arms, and a reversing-arm pivotally mounted, provided with jaws adapted to receive and hold the portions of the arms lying in the same plane, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a series of turning-arms pivo tally mounted, springs for actuating the turn-f ing-arms, each of the arms having a portion of its length in the same horizontal plane with the remaining arms, a releasing mechanism adapted to hold and successively release the turning-arms, a reversing-arm and a spring for normally holding the reversing-arm on the side of the rack opposite the releasing mechanism, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting-upright provided with an elongated clamp adapted to hold a sheet of music at its center, a supporting rest or shelf provided with clamps adapted to secure the lower edges of a sheet or book of music, turning-arms pivotally mounted on the supporting-upright at diferentvertical elevations, each of the turning-arms being provided with a straight section in the same horizontal plane with a section of the remaining arms, springs for turning the arms, a holding and releasing mechanism consisting of a lever provided with an abutment normally held above the horizontal plane of the straight sections ot' the arms, a stop-finger connected and operating with the releasing-lever and adapted to be retracted under tension to allow the straight sections ot' the arms to be passed behind the stop-finger, guide-jaws adapted to embrace the said sections of the turning-arms, a reversing-arm provided with jaws adapted to receive said sections or' the arms, and a spring for returning the reversing-arm to normal position, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting-upright provided with an elongated clamp adapted to hold a sheet ol music at its center, a supporting rest or shelf provided with clamps adapted to secure the lower edges of a sheet or book of music, turningsarms pivotally mounted on the supporting-upright at dierent vertical elevations, each ot' the turning-arms being provided with a straight section in the same horizontal plane with a section of the remaining arms, springs for turning the arms, a holding and releasing mechanism consisting of a lever provided with an abutment normally held above the plane of the straight sections of the arms, a stop-finger connected and operating with the releasing-lever and adapted to be retracted to allow the said sections of the arms to be passed behind the stop finger, guide -jaws adapted to embrace said sections or the turn-l ing-arms, a reversing-arm provided with jaws adapted to receive said sections of the arms, a tripod provided with two foot-levers. and connections between the foot-levers, and the releasing-lever and reversing-arm, substantially as described.

HERMAN L. ABRAHAM.

Witnesses:

H. H. BLAIR, C. F. RENWICK. 

